Government of Canada invests $15 Million in Clean Fuels Projects in the Niagara Region and Across Canada

March 12, 2024

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(Government of Canada) ... Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced in Thorold, Ontario, a federal investment of $15 million to support six clean fuels projects across Canada, including $10 million for two projects in the Niagara region. The federal investments include:

· $4.6 million to StormFisher Hydrogen to support a front-end engineering (FEED) study for a renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub in Thorold, Ontario.

o If this study leads to a positive investment decision, the project could support over 100 construction jobs and around 30 full-time jobs during operations in Thorold, Ontario.

o Upon the completion of the FEED study in the summer of 2025 and construction of the planned $200-million low-carbon fuel production facility in 2027, StormFisher Hydrogen will combine renewable electricity from Ontario’s clean grid along with biogenic CO2 emissions from local industry to produce 1, 250,000 gigajoules of RNG and decarbonize16,000 homes and businesses in Ontario.

o The project will support the decarbonization of the Canadian natural gas system and anchor an innovative hydrogen hub in Thorold that will help attract other clean energy and technology businesses to the Niagara region.

· Over $5 million to CHAR Technologies to support FEED studies that will enable CHAR to replicate their first-of-its-kind woody-biomass-to-renewable-energy facility in Thorold, Ontario in other parts of Canada.

o Supported by an existing investment of $5 million from NRCan, CHAR is finalizing its construction of its clean fuels production facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub in Thorold, which will convert woody biomass to renewable energy like RNG and biocarbon. The new NRCan funding announced today will enable CHAR Technologies to replicate this work at four new facilities in Kirkland Lake, Ontario; Drayton Valley, Alberta; and Saint Félicien and La Sarre, Quebec, and create a distributed network of low-carbon fuels production facilities across three provinces in Canada.

o Taken together, the Thorold, Ontario, project — which is expected to reach commercial production this year — and the four other clean fuel production facilities in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Quebec; and Alberta – which are expected to come online in the following two years — will maximize the value of underutilized waste wood resources and help decarbonize Canada’s steel and mining industries, and Canadian gas utilities.

· $5 million to support Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. in delivering a FEED study to support the construction and operation of a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production facility in Port Colborne, Ontario.

o If the project reaches a positive Final Investment Decision (FID), following the completion of the FEED study, it is expected that the Azure’s SAF project would support approximately 1,500 construction jobs and 150 full time jobs during operations in Port Colborne, Ontario.

o The FEED study is expected to be completed in by the end of 2024 and the construction of the planned facility would be commenced immediately following a positive FID. The proposed project will be located on the north end of Port Colborne, Ontario, along the Welland Canal — a strategic location that will provide immediate access to local and global markets.

o The planned processing facility in Port Colborne will leverage Canada’s agricultural sector to produce SAF that will meet the growing demand to help reduce emissions from the aviation sector. Azure’s proposed project in Port Colbourne is one of three projects that Azure is progressing in Canada, with support from the federal government, to provide a scalable growth platform to provide a significant source of SAF required to meet domestic and international mandates to reduce CO2 emissions.

We are leveraging Canada’s innovative clean tech companies and abundant range of feedstocks — including forest byproducts, agricultural crops and our low-emitting electricity grid — to grow Canada’s domestic production of clean fuels across the economy. In so doing, we are supporting the decarbonization and competitiveness of heavy industry such as steel manufacturers, mining operations and pulp mills, and will generate economic opportunities through exports and direct foreign investment for farmers, businesses, workers and more.

These ongoing efforts and today’s investments will grow Canada’s clean fuels market and help position Canada as a reliable producer and supplier of the low-carbon fuels that Canadians and the world want and need. They are also important to the growth of Canada’s clean fuels industry in helping to keep pace with the global demand to act on climate change while bolstering energy security and delivering affordability.

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Federal funding was provided through Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund (CFF), which supports building new and expanding existing clean fuel production facilities, including hydrogen, renewable diesel, synthetic fuels, renewable natural gas and sustainable aviation fuel. The fund also supports feasibility and front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies that will create jobs and enable the sector to grow at the size and pace required to contribute to Canada’s climate goals.
Launched in June 2021, the Clean Fuels Fund is investing $1.5 billion to grow the production of clean fuels in Canada, such as hydrogen, renewable diesel and natural gas, cellulosic ethanol, synthetic fuels and sustainable aviation fuel.
In addition to the investment made today into Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp.’s sustainable aviation fuel project in Port Colborne, Ontario, through NRCan’s Clean Fuels Fund, the Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. with $3.4 million in funding to support this project — representing a combined total federal investment of $8.4 million.
These investments come as the Governments of Canada and Ontario are working together through the Canada-Ontario Regional Energy and Resource Table to finalize a Collaboration Framework that includes joint actions to advance shared priorities in electrification, nuclear energy, critical minerals, hydrogen and the forest sector, as well an improved permitting process and increased regulatory effectiveness and efficiency to get clean energy projects online in time to meet rising demand. READ MORE